John and Lisa's Blue Skies Blog – Soaring with God

I have a beloved little porcelain statue of St. Francis of Assisi sitting on a table-shrine in our bedroom.  St. Francis, in his brown monk’s robe, has a doe standing beside him, a dove on his shoulder and another dove in his hands.  It’s precious!  He reminds me of my love of birds and my love of nature in general; he reminds me to always praise God for the beauty of creation.

John can be a bit of a klutz.  A few months ago, he knocked the statue over and broke off a dove’s wing.  About a week ago, he bumped the statue again and broke the other dove completely off Francis’ shoulder.  This made me sad (truth be told!) but it’s given me the opportunity to practice non-attachment to material possessions.

This past Saturday at Richmond Hill as I was showing John the gardens, I spied a stone statue of St. Francis near a tree.  I motioned for John to come over.

Pointing to the statue I said, “Guess who that is?”

“St. Francis.”

“Yep.  Very good!”

“Better keep me away from him.”

Hahahaa!  Poor John.  I think St. Francis would find this very amusing.  Francis, the peacemaker, would have nothing against John for his clumsiness.  I have nothing against him either.